www.elsblog.org - Bringing Data and Methods to Our Legal Madness

30 May 2006

Law and Strategy

Arriving in the mail this weekend -- the brand new co-edited volume by Ronald Kahn and Ken I. Kersch, The Supreme Court and American Political Development (Kansas). Congrats to Ron and Ken. (Full Disclosure: I have a contribution in the volume; despite that, they still deserve the kudos.) It's highly recommended to anyone interested in exploring so-called "APD" approaches to the study of the Court.

One brief shout-out that might be especially relevant to readers of this blog: those of you with an interest in debates about "attitudinal v. strategic v. legal" approaches to Supreme Court decision making will want to read Mark Graber's chapter, entitled "Legal, Strategic, or Legal Strategy: Deciding to Decide during the Civil War and Reconstruction." Among other things the chapter calls into question the view that Ex parte McCardle is best understood as a strategic retreat. More generally (to quote his last sentence), Graber tries to show that "the most fruitful investigations will explore the ways in which legal, strategic, and attitudinal factors interact when justices make decisions...."